News / / 24.02.16

Big Narstie criticises lack of diversity at Brits

The organisers of the Brit Awards, which will take place tonight, have come under fire for the ceremony’s vastly white nominees

The Brits, which feature only two British non-white nominees this year, have recently been heavily criticised for their lack of diversity.

Grime veteran Big Narstie has commented on the seemingly out of touch voting panels in a new interview with Channel 4 News. “The success of my career is made by a guy in an office who thinks he knows everything about the UK music scene… but when’s the last time you got turned up?” he asks. “For our country to do good, we need to embrace our country.”

Hattie Collins, the music editor of i-d, is also interviewed, and is shocked by the vastly white nominations, calling the Brits “hugely embarrassing” and “woefully lacking in any kind of diversity.” When asked who should have been featured, she tips Lady Leshurr and Stormzy for their “fantastic DIY videos”.

Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff also discusses the subject of minority representation at awards in our recent opinion piece. Read it here.

See the Channel 4 interview in full below.

(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));
#BritsSoWhite: Lack of diversity sparks debate

"I come from Lambeth, Brixton. I'm a regular at the pound shop. So what type of stuff do you want me to impress you with?"Big Narstie speaks to Channel 4 News on the lack of diversity at this years Brit awards - a controversy that has sparked a petition, the #BritsSoWhite hashtag and a major debate.

Posted by Channel 4 News on Tuesday, 23 February 2016

CONNECT TO CRACK